TV Over the Internet: Rival Ecosystems Will Soon Disrupt Content Delivery
By Karla Robinson
November 14, 2012
November 14, 2012
- “Why are TV and cable box interfaces so slow and ugly, and why are we still dealing with gigantic ugly cable box remotes festooned with colored buttons?” The Verge asks, suggesting cable and satellite companies have been insulated from competition with monopolies, effectively stifling innovation.
- “Barred from integrating television service directly into their products, companies across the tech industry have spent enormous resources building rich ecosystems of video content delivered over the Internet instead. The goal is obvious but generally left unstated: to provide content offerings rich and varied enough to replace cable TV,” The Verge writes. “There is a nation of potential cord cutters out there looking for an excuse to stop paying Comcast for 500 channels they don’t really want.”
- However, these services still have holes and complications with content availability. Notably, none of the over-the-top boxes offer programming immediately after turning on.
- Despite providers’ pushback, Internet delivery is actually favorable for cable companies.
- “Internet service is much cheaper to offer than TV, so having customers shift the balance of their bills to data instead of TV is pure profit for the industry,” the article states. For example, Comcast has data caps and tiered pricing, but it costs the company “virtually nothing if you use more data because you’re watching video, so the overage charges are essentially easy money,” explains the post.
- Various cable providers have expanded into streaming with TV Everywhere but it requires pay TV subscriptions, cutting off certain consumers — and revenue.
- “And unless these companies figure it out soon, the rival ecosystems being built by Apple and Microsoft and Google and Amazon and everyone else will eventually just eat their lunch,” suggests The Verge. “Eventually, we’re going to get our TV over the Internet.”
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